Free Plan: 1912 Music Rack and Bookstand
An open-frame book rest that tilts and locks on a brass rod — the 1912 reading stand.
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- Complete cut list and brass fittings
- Brass rod tilt mechanism
- Base assembly that will not rock
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Download didn't start? Get the plan here.The stand is drawn up. What decides how clean it comes out is the bench it gets built on.
- A layout guide for a one- or two-car garage or a basement: which tools to buy in what order, and where each one stands so the work flows in one direction.
- What to read first: the layout chapter, then the chapter on tool order. A project like this one asks for a vise, good light and a clear bench before it asks for another machine.
- A digital guide sold through ClickBank, with a 60-day refund window stated on the vendor's page.
Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
One post about three feet tall, a cross-lap base, two braces, and a book rest cut as an open frame from a half-inch board. A brass rod and a brass rail let it tilt and lock wherever you set it. Eight round-head screws hold the rest together.
It was drawn in 1912 for sheet music. It works just as well for a book, a recipe, a repair manual, or a tablet, which is why people still build it.
The plan covers the full cut list, the cross-lap base, the brace layout, the brass tilt mechanism, and the drilling sequence for the hardware.
Project at a Glance
- Difficulty
- Intermediate (cross-lap base plus brass fitting and bending)
- Main materials
- 1-1/8 inch square stock for post, base and braces, a 1/2 x 8 x 13 inch board for the open-frame rest, two gauge clamps, a lip strip, a 1/4-inch brass rod, a brass strip, eight round-head brass screws
- Build time
- 2-3 shop days, plus finish
- Tools needed
- Saws, mortising tools, drill, metalworking tools, vise and clamps, sandpaper and finish supplies
- Safety
- Brass drilling — clamp the work, see the shop tip below
- Source
- Popular Mechanics Handbooks, 1912 (public domain)
Two things worth knowing before you start:
Glue the base cross on a surface you have actually checked — a jointed board or a saw table, not the bench. Four feet that are not coplanar give you a rock, and on a stand this tall a rock is what lets the whole thing go over sideways when somebody leans on it. Second: drill the brass rod in a vise, never by hand. Brass grabs hard right as the bit breaks through and will spin a loose piece out of your fingers. Clamp it, back the hole with scrap, and go slow.
The wood on this one is quick. The brasswork decides how it turns out — and none of it needs a big machine or much floor space.
That is the part that stops most shops long before skill does: not which tools are in the room, but where they stand and in what order they arrived.
What the guide actually covers
The eight-foot test
Take an eight-foot board from where the lumber is stored, run it through the saw, and set the offcut down. If you had to move something, open a door or turn the board sideways to get it in, the shop is filled, not laid out. That is the problem this guide is written for.
It covers layout for a one- or two-car garage or a basement, the order the tools go in, and the parts tool reviews skip: lighting, dust, noise and where the lumber lives. It won't tell you which brand to buy, only where the tool belongs.
Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
Also worth a look: the technique layer
Woodworking Secrets is a printed book on layout, cutting, joinery and finishing, the part a plan leaves out. The publisher sends it at no charge and you cover the shipping. It ships to US addresses. On the order page there is a box for a trial membership that is already ticked — untick it if you only want the book.
See the book →